33. Isaiah Chapter Thirty-Three
Isaiah Chapter 33 In chapters twenty-eight to thirty-two five woes were pronounced against Israel and Judah. The sixth woe is now uttered against Assyria, and again the prophecy looks on from Isaiah’s own time to the yet future and final overthrow of the Antichristian powers and the day of Zion’s deliverance (Isaiah 33:20-24), all being introductory to a fuller development of this twofold theme in chapter thirty-four.
Primarily the time is that of the fourteenth year of Hezekiah. The Assyrian has actually entered the land and God’s judgments are visiting “the sinners in Zion” (Isaiah 33:14). But the Assyrian must be brought low. There is to be retribution, point for point (Isaiah 33:1), and Isaiah, after the denunciatory woe, intercedes for his people in their time of trouble (Isaiah 33:2). The divine response is sure, not only in Hezekiah’s day, but at the close of “man’s day,” the time of the great tribulation. The gathered peoples (plural, Isaiah 33:3) are to be scattered. Their plunder will be seized and destroyed, as it were, before caterpillars and locusts.
Isaiah 33:5-6 form an interlude looking on to the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom. No preceding period of deliverance has filled this picture. The Lord will be “filled with judgment and righteousness.” He will Himself, as its “wisdom and knowledge,” be the stability (i.e., security) of its times, its strength (or wealth) of salvation (so the clauses are probably to be rendered). Judah’s treasure will be the fear of the Lord (a striking contrast to Hezekiah’s dealings as recorded in 2 Kings 18:13-16). The next verses describe Israel’s pitiable state, not merely under the Assyrian, but under the Antichrist. There is his breaking of the covenant made with them (as in Daniel 9:27), the despair of the mighty ones among the Jews and their ambassadors, and the desolation of the land.
Yet the Lord will arise, the schemes of the enemy will be rendered futile, and the Gentile nations (“peoples”) will be consumed (Isaiah 33:10-12). The nations “far off,” those not actually gathered at Armageddon, the Gentiles that remain after the worldwide judgments of the day of God’s wrath, are to hear what He has done, and those that are near are to acknowledge His might (Isaiah 33:13). As for the Jews, there are “the sinners,” “the hypocrites.” They will not escape the judgments. There is no partiality with God (Isaiah 33:14). There is the godly remnant; they shall dwell on high, they shall be protected and nourished (Isaiah 33:15-16). They will see their King-Messiah “in His beauty”; they will behold “the land of far distances” (a greatly extended Israelitic territory), Isaiah 33:17. That is the reward of refusing to see evil (Isaiah 33:15).
They will muse on the terror they experienced during their great tribulation. The “scribe” (the political secretary) will be no more. The “receiver” (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) will be no more. “He that counted the towers” (the military commander) will be no more. The mighty foe with their foreign tongue will pass away (Isaiah 33:18-19).
Zion will be seen in its glory, peaceful, permanent, prosperous, and all will center in Him who is their Deliverer, the Bestower of peace and prosperity incalculable, the Judge, the Lawgiver, the King, the Savior (Isaiah 33:20-22).
Isaiah 33:23 speaks of the weakness and inability of the people themselves, pictured whether as unable to guide the ship of state, or, what is more probable, arrange their tent as their dwelling place, with the necessary cord, tent pole and canvas. Yet it will be given them to divide the booty of the enemy, and the lame will take the prey (Isaiah 33:23). Sickness, physical and spiritual, will be things of the past. The inhabitants “shall have their sins forgiven” (Isaiah 33:24).
God teaches us, as He will teach them, the impossibility of delivering ourselves by our own strength. He sends us weakness that out of weakness we may be made strong. Jacob had to learn this. Made physically lame, he proved more than ever the almighty power of the Lord. Paul learned to glory in his infirmities, that the power of Christ might rest upon him (“spread a tabernacle” over him), 2 Corinthians 12:9. In our trials and difficulties we are made to know the love of Christ in a way impossible without them. “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us” (Romans 8:35-37).